Good To Be Home
by exploding-penguins
Summary: Sarada Uchiha is curious as to why her father is away most of the time. Sakura gives her daughter an explanation, and receives a precious surprise.


**This is a quick oneshot I wrote for my lovely friend MissKluck. It's her birthday, so I wanted to write her some SasuSaku goodness. She also writes fanfiction, and collaborates with me on 'Auctioned Off'. Happy birthday!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>"Aw, crap!"<p>

Sakura Haruno frowned to herself as she opened the oven to find the biscuits she'd prepared burnt to a crisp. Quickly taking them out of the oven, she opened a window in fear of setting off the smoke detectors. The pinkette leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed in defeat, cursing her subpar cooking skills. She glanced at the two pots on the stove, and was grateful that nothing was burning or boiling over. Though that was to be expected. After all, preparing tomato soup and rice _had _become her specialty.

'_I should really stick to preparing what I'm actually good at. Oh well, time to prepare the fish!' _she thought, walking over to the fridge and pulling out some tilapia.

A few minutes later, the fish was all cooked and dinner was ready. Sakura smiled to herself, proud of her work. Sarada would be so excited. What better way to cheer her little girl up than with her favorite meal? Gathering the food on plates, the pinkette called for her daughter.

"Sarada, dinner is ready!"

Sakura smiled as she heard the sound of little footsteps coming toward the kitchen. In came the five year old girl, wearing a worried expression on her face. However, the girls' expression quickly changed to one of excitement upon smelling the meal her mother had prepared.

"Mama, you made my favorite!" Sarada exclaimed, sitting down eagerly.

The pinkette smiled at the girl, placing the food in front of her. "Of course I did. You deserve it!" she said, sitting down across from her daughter.

Sarada smiled at her mother, but it came out looking more like a smirk. "I was worried that I'd be eating burnt food again," she said.

Sakura sweat dropped and shook her head. "I know, I know. I'm not the greatest cook. At least I know how to prepare your favorites. You and your papa love tomatoes with rice and fish so much, that I had to become a pro at preparing them!" she said with a smile.

At the mention of her father, Sarada froze and proceeded to put her spoon back into her soup bowl. The girl looked down sadly. "Mama, why is papa away so much?"

The pinkette's eyes widened, and she was about to open her mouth to say something before Sarada cut her off.

"Papa is away so much and you just seem to accept it. Even though Boruto's papa is busy being hokage, at least they see each other almost daily… I want to spend time with my papa too," she said quietly.

Sakura felt her heart ache for her daughter, and she took Sarada's hand in her own gently. "I know it's hard, Sarada. The reason papa is away so much is because there are things that happened in the past that he feels he needs to atone for. He wants to experience the world anew, and see it clearly. This is something that he needs to do for himself, so that he can find peace," she explained.

Sarada nodded slowly, seemingly satisfied, at least for the time being. "Okay, mama. I think I understand," she said.

The pinkette gave a soft smile, and patted her daughters' hand before setting it down. "Just remember that this doesn't mean your papa loves you any less. He absolutely adores you. Now, let's finish our dinner so we can get you ready for bed, okay?"

"Okay," Sarada replied with a smile, happily digging into her food.

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><p>"Goodnight, mama," Sarada said sleepily, snuggling into her blankets.<p>

Sakura smiled and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Sarada. I'll see you in the morning," she said, standing up and heading to the door.

Before closing the door, the pinkette glanced back at her daughter. She felt a rush of emotion as she saw the girl hugging a little green dinosaur to her chest tightly. The stuffed animal had belonged to Sasuke as a little boy, and he had held onto it so he could give it to his child one day. With one last look at Sarada, Sakura left, shutting the door behind her.

No matter how much she'd tried to stop thinking about her earlier conversation with Sarada, the medic simply couldn't. It truly was hard on her, having her husband away for most of the year. However, she knew that it was something he had to do. Unfortunately, it seemed that their daughter had to pay the price. She was too young to understand why it was so necessary for her father to see the world through new eyes. She was too young to hear of the horrors of what he'd seen, and what he'd done because of it.

Sakura sat on the living room couch, and picked up a picture of Sasuke that had been sitting on the table next to it. She took a deep breath as she took in his features, and she wondered where his adventures had taken him. He wrote letters to her and Sarada, and he even video chatted with them from time to time. Unfortunately, internet was hard to come by in a lot of the nations Sasuke found himself in.

The medic couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke missed her as much as she missed him. She knew that he missed Sarada dearly. He worshipped the ground she walked on. She smiled to herself at the thought, but the smile faded as quickly as it came. Sakura couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke truly deemed her good enough, or if he simply put up a front.

'_No, Sasuke-kun wouldn't do that. How could I think such a thing? But I can't help it. I doubt myself too much,' _she thought sadly.

Sakura just missed Sasuke dearly.

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><p>It was the middle of the night, around two in the morning, and Sasuke had finally made it back to Konoha. He had made it through the latest leg of his journey, and he was ready to spend time at home before heading out again. He smiled slightly to himself, eager to see his wife and daughter after a few months away. His smile widened as he realized that the next leg of his journey could very well be his last.<p>

Unlocking the door to the home he shared with Sakura and Sarada, he walked in and shut the door quietly behind him. He found his wife sleeping on the couch, holding something to her chest. He slowly made his way toward her and carefully pried what she was holding away from her, trying not to wake her. The raven then realized that she had been clinging to a picture of him. The realization made a wave of guilt wash over him.

'_I'm sorry, Sakura. After this, it'll just be a little longer. Then we can be together as a family permanently,' _he thought.

The Uchiha set the picture down on the table next to the couch, and proceeded to carefully pick his wife up, bridal style. Carrying her into the bedroom, he gently set her down in their bed. The movement made the pinkette stir, and she began to awaken.

"Sasuke…kun…?" she mumbled, half asleep.

"I'm here. Go back to sleep, Sakura," he replied quietly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

The pinkette nodded lazily and turned on her side, falling back into her slumber immediately. Sasuke smiled to himself and went to check in on Sarada, before coming back to sleep beside his wife.

The next morning, the sun shined through the windows brightly, effectively waking Sakura up. She groaned lazily, not quite ready for the day yet. Suddenly, memories from the night before came flooding back to her. She remembered her conversation with Sarada, and sadly staring at the picture of Sasuke. The pinkette could have sworn she remembered Sasuke showing up and carrying her to bed. Sakura frowned to herself as she realized that it wasn't possible, and it had to have been a dream. The medic felt a wave of sadness begin to wash over her, before a thought struck her.

'_Wait, didn't I fall asleep on the couch…? How did I get into bed?'_

The pinkette suddenly felt movement next to her, and an arm wrap around her.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" said a familiar voice.

Sakura gasped and turned toward the voice, wrapping her arms around the person next to her. "Sasuke-kun! I've missed you so much! Why didn't you wake me when you got home?" she asked, clinging to him and smiling brightly.

The raven smiled and embraced her back. "I didn't want to disturb you. I knew I'd see you in the morning. I've missed you too," he said softly, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

Sakura looked up at him and leaned forward, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips and smiling sweetly. "I'm so glad you're here," she replied.

Sasuke's own smile widened and he nodded in agreement.

It was good to be home.

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><p><strong>There you have it! If you enjoyed this oneshot, feel free to leave a review and save it to your favorites! Thank you for reading.<strong>


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